Should the OVA Turn Its Back on Social Media?

By Michael Connolly | April 10, 2018 |

At the new Board’s organizational meeting on Tuesday April 3, Director Marianne Neufeld requested a future agenda item for the next board meeting on April 17: “I would like to see us discuss the policy that was passed to use Nextdoor as our venue for announcements and what-have-you.”

Most of the new board members have criticized social media in general and Nextdoor in particular. Yet, some of them used Nextdoor during their board campaigns to directly communicate and interact with OVA members.

And that is precisely the point: Social media is just one of many tools that can be used to communicate with our members.

Social media is here to stay. This valuable communication tool should not be considered a detriment but should be utilized to its fullest extent by OVA. An informed community is an engaged community and the more that residents are aware and are discussing important OVA issues, the better off we all are.

What the critics, and perhaps our current board, fail to understand is that Nextdoor was never the only – or even the primary – channel to dispense information to our neighborhood. It is simply in addition to the OVA email and website channels currently used. Rather than competing with these other official communication tools, Nextdoor supports them by directing members to the OVA website for association information. It’s part of a media mix that, used together, expands the number of members and users reached.

In fact OVA notifications should be expanded to Facebook as well, something the volunteers and staff did not have time to undertake.

Why should the OVA discard a tool that assists in getting its messages and announcements to the most members possible?

Oakmont’s Social Media Policy (Click HERE) was written over the course of many months, approved by the Board in November, and enacted in January. Prior to that, individual members on Nextdoor posted links to OVA board videos, agendas and other vital information using their own account under their own name. It was determined that circulating official OVA communication should be done in the name of the Association rather than resident members.

Using OVA profile on ND to announce OVA video

This decision served two important functions: to encourage engagement, involvement, and education throughout our community; and provide the OVA an official social media presence in its own community. That presence is proof that Oakmont’s footprint is solidly in the 21st century with a modern approach to communication.

Thus was created an OVA profile on Nextdoor for exclusive use by members of the paid office staff and management to post OVA announcements. These posts served Oakmont by keeping members informed of timely information and linked back to the official OVA website.

In announcing board meeting ND post links to OVA Email and OVA website

Many City and County agencies use ND to keep the community informed and elicit feedback. These include the Santa Rosa Police Department, City of Santa Rosa, County of Sonoma, California Office of Emergency Services, and FEMA, to name a few. More than half of OVA’s members (nearly 2500) are members of Nextdoor Oakmont Village. While many do not post comments on the site, readership is high. Nextdoor was widely credited for keeping Oakmonters informed during last year’s firestorm emergency. Neighbors checked in with one another, information was relayed, news was reported. This is the heart and soul of Nextdoor.

Social media is here to stay. This valuable communication tool should not be considered a detriment but should be utilized to its fullest extent by OVA. An informed community is an engaged community and the more that residents are aware and are discussing important OVA issues, the better off we all are.